


Damaged

by Savedbyholmes (ShezzasCompanion)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Civil War (Marvel), Gen, Mentions of surgery, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Protective Antonia, Tony has heart problems, Tony has self-worth issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 19:49:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShezzasCompanion/pseuds/Savedbyholmes
Summary: Life or some divine being hated him almost as much as he hated himself Tony decided as he looked down at his chest. There was the familiar glow of an arc reactor that came from under a layer of bandages. That had to be the only explanation for this really. He thought any problems he would have with his heart would crop up right after the shrapnel had been removed from his chest, but it seemed as if it decided to wait, for the most inopportune moment to crop up...in the form of a heart attack no less





	Damaged

Life or some divine being hated him almost as much as he hated himself Tony decided as he looked down at his chest. There was the familiar glow of an arc reactor that came from under a layer of bandages. That had to be the only explanation for this really. He thought any problems he would have with his heart would crop up right after the shrapnel had been removed from his chest, but it seemed as if it decided to wait, for the most inopportune moment to crop up...in the form of a heart attack no less. It happened in the middle of his work shop, at least he hadn’t been alone, Antonia we helping him with B.A.R.F for the MIT presentation he was supposed to give. All he remembered was the aching in his jaw, the pain on his left side of his chest and arm before he went down. He doesn’t really remember much except for waking up in the hospital with Antonia going over his chart. It had been his idea to put it back in really. He knew the reactor worked in keeping his heart going, he had used it before and in reality it was more reliable than a pacemaker, even if Stark Industries made those too. And now there he was reclined on one of her arm chairs as she worked on a few schematics Pepper had wanted from her by midnight.    
  
Tony had argued with her about staying in her living space, simply because there was the entire penthouse above her that he occupied. He didn’t want to bother her with the burden of looking after him. However the lost that argument, how he wasn’t really sure.   
It probably happened when she told the doctor he would stay with her. She had experience taking care of him and not to mention her single floor made it easier for him to move around with that familiar yet new weight in his chest again.    
  
“How long until I can get back to work?” Tony asked after a moment.”   
  
“Another four weeks, for actual work. Like armor, cars, energy things. You can work on programming though. Just don’t set the laptop on your chest.”    
  
“Why are you looking over me. I don’t need a babysitter.”   
  
“You had a heart attack and major surgery, you need to be monitored,   
Also they really didn’t trust you with all those pain medications because of your history with substances.”    
  
Tony shifted slightly on the recliner. “I haven’t used any drugs in years.”   
  
“I think th were more concerned with the fact you’re an alcoholic.”    
  
“When have I ever taken painkillers with Alcohol.”    
  
Antonia looked at him pointedly. “After Monaco, when you took pain killers with a vodka chaser in the middle of your kitchen before making a spectacle with the press.”   
  
“In my defense, I was dying from Palladium poisoning.”

  
  


Tony had to give himself Kudos. He was able to hide his health issues, his heart problems, from the Avengers and the world. Once the reactor was covered with a What was essentially a large bandaid, the glow couldn’t be seen under his shirt, no one knew it was there besides his sister, the doctor that performed the surgery, and a few other staff members. No one asked questions about his prolonged absence, they assumed he was taking a break from the public eye and from being a super hero after what happened in Sokovia, they are only half right of course.    
  
His first appearance in public was for the B.A.R.F presentation at MIT. From a professional standpoint it had been a success. He showed off a new invention, backed an auditorium full of new ideas for a bigger and brighter tomorrow. Personally it had been a train wreck he had chosen one of the few moments he wanted to change so badly, and that was a tough one to walk through with someone that hadn’t been equally traumatized at the death of his parents. But he managed, even if his support had been called away by some shareholder meeting, because the vultures took every advantage of him not being active in his own damn company to strike.    
  
It was while he made his escape me ran into the mother of Charlie Spencer, who shoved his photo into his chest. They had killed him in Sokovia, dropped a building on his apparently, collateral damage to fighting Ultron. Just when he thought the day couldn’t get worse, he turned on the news when he arrived home to find more death and destruction under the hands of them, The Avengers.    
  
That had catapulted everything: Phone calls, meetings, listening to other countries and their opinions. Tony went as a consultant, an active duty non combatant. He took Antonia with him, she went under the guise of Consultant/halftime Avenger, though her primary duty was to keep an eye on him and his health.    
  
He tried his best to get the accords into something he could back, at least something he could work with later on once the team agreed to sign it. But that argument seemed like the beginning of the end now. Everything went downhill from there: The death of Peggy Carter, the murder of King T’chaka, searching for Barnes, dealing with Thaddeus Ross, and the fight at the airport. Nevertheless he was determined to keep the team together, to keep the Avengers as a single unit. On the Raft Sam Wilson told him where to find Roger and Barnes and he had followed. For once in his life he had told someone about his plan to go to Siberia to find them and Antonia had agreed to be there with a quinjet.

 

That moment seemed to be eons ago to Tony. It seemed to be a different life, one where he didn’t watch his parents being murdered and a man that he once called his friend wasn’t currently sitting on his torso, shield raised above his head, ready to bring it down and end it all. It took only a moment for Tony to bring his arms up to defend his face, but that wasn’t what Steve had been going for, Tony realized that too late as the shield came down on his chest, cracking the gold titanium alloy and the reactor.

 

Horror, complete and utter horror ran through his system as he stared at the shield in his chest. It took him a moment to comprehend the fact the vibranium was resting perfectly centered in the reactor. The glow was still there, lighting up the star and stripes and his face, but the power was dying, he could feel it he could feel the heart beat in chest change, and he could feel the shield actually resting on the titanium socket that held it in place.    
  
“Tony?” Steve’s voice sounded distant to his ears and he managed to look up to see what looked like concern on the other man’s face. He imagined he didn’t look well, he certainly didn’t feel well.    
  
“Tony?”   
  
He ignored his name. Instead he began to panic. How was he supposed to get Antonia? Friday was disabled, had been when he helmet had been damaged. She was there to assist him if he needed help and yet she would never know. Maybe she would come looking for him after a while after Steve left with Barnes and she would find him dead.    
  
Metal scrapping against metal filled the air as Steve pulled the shield from Tony’s chest plate, but something didn’t seem right. Tony was sweaty and pale, he began to look that way the moment The shield sliced through the suits power source. Steve had known something was wrong then, even more so now that Tony was blinking more than he should be, as if he was struggling to keep awake. Steve’s plan was to just get up and leave with Bucky, but he couldn’t. Not now at least as he realized there was something wrong with Tony. It was then he noticed in the crack of the suit around the reactor that it wasn’t solid metal behind it instead it was as if the reactor had not been a part of the suit at all but rather... inside Tony’s chest.   
  
Steve’s eyes widened with the realization as he moved to pull the chest plate off. He silently begged and pleaded that he was wrong that it was a trick of the lighting.    
  
He felt sick as he pulled back the chest plate, exposing The under suit Tony was wearing and the most certainly cracked reactor and the torn fabric around it.    
  
It was a sickening realization that Tony was dying. He was dying and Steve couldn't help him, the worst part? Steve had done this.    
  
“Tony? Come on Tony keep your eyes open.” Steve nearly begged as he touched Tony’s cold and clammy face.he was so focused he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching, but he certainly heard “Get away from him Rogers.”

 

Steve looked towards the door to see Antonia sprinting towards them, she was without her suit, Legionnaire He heard Tony call it once. She hadn’t come for a fight, she had come for Tony.    
  
“I said Move Rogers!” She spat at him once she got close enough. Steve could see her falter slightly as her eyes fell on the broken reactor.    
  
Antonia shoved passed him, kneeling next to Tony on the cold concrete floor. The cold going through her pants as she set down the bag she had over her shoulder and began to dig through it.    
  
“Is there anything I can do to help?”    
  
“Yeah you can get out of here.” She told Steve. She didn’t look at him, she didn’t even so much as offer him a glance as she pulled out the fiberglass box that held the back up reactor she had taken to carrying with her since the surgery.    
  
“Christ.” She muttered as she leaned over Tony’s unmoving chest. She applied enough pressure around the edges of the reactor that were still intact until it popped up and she was able to unscrew it as carefully as she could without the risk of dropping shards of glass into her brother’s  chest. She inspected the socket, making sure no glass had accidentally fallen before screwing in the new reactor and pressing it back down until the familiar blue glow lit up her face. She waited a moment until she heard the gasping breath Tony took when reactors where changed.   
  
That had been the somewhat easy part, now she had to get him out of there. Friday had alerted her the moment the AI had been disabled from the suit and she had informed Antonia of Tony’s injuries. Moving him without aggravating his wounds would be difficult but Tony needed immediate medical attention she could not give in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn’t be able to take him and the suit. The metal would make him harder for her to support, and in a heart beat she was pulling off what was left of the armor. She couldn’t help but notice Steve moving to help her and she snapped.    
  
“I told you to leave.”   
  
“I’m trying to help.”   
  
“I think you’ve helped enough already.”   
She sneered.    
  
Her fingers moved quickly pulling on this, pushing on that until the suit laid in pieces scattered around her.

 

“There is no way for you to get him up. He’s unconscious, he hasn’t moved, hasn’t made a sound and you think you can lift him.”   
  
Antonia huffed as she placed a hand on Tony’s chest.    
  
“Then you don’t know anything.” She commented. Tony was conscious but barely and probably not for long. She got to her feet and moved to stand over Tony before slipping one arm under him and pulling him up with another. “I know how to pick him up. Incase it slipped your notice I’ve been looking out for him for years.”

 

It doesn’t take long for her to have Tony somewhat standing until she can throw his arm over her shoulder and take most of his weight. She wants to tell herself this is like picking him off the floor after he’s been drinking, but it’s not. Because they aren’t at home and it’s not a short elevator ride to his bedroom. Instead they are in some Compound in Siberia with the jet outside the door. But that’s not going to stop her, and she certainly isn’t going to ask Rogers for help. Especially since Rogers did this.    
  
“Just stay with me a little longer Tony.” She murmurs as his head lulls against hers before she begins the trek back to the jet.    
  
Once inside she straps Tony to the medical table and connects the monitors on board before placing a few blankets on top of him.    
  
She steps away for a moment to close it up and get the jet in the air before she has Friday take over as the auto pilot.    
  
“You know where to take us, Fri. Make sure there is someone ready for us when we land.”

 

It takes 12 hours to arrive back in New York. There is an ambulance waiting at the compound to take Tony to the hospital. 6 hours later he was coming out of Surgery.Antonia spent the entire time sitting in the waiting room until they called bee back to recovery. It has been the worse six hours of her life. She was so focused on seeing Tony she almost didn’t see Steve sitting in the corner of the waiting room in sunglasses and a hat. She stopped as her eyes fixed on him and she faltered taking a step towards him until the nurse called her name again. Steve could wait. Tony was more important than a fight in a hospital waiting room.   
  
“We don’t want any visitors in his room when he’s moved.” She told the nurse as she passed. She knew they oblige.

 

Tony looked horrible. His face was bruised and cut up, his left arm was in a cast, apparently the small fracture from the airport fight had turned into a full on break. Though what had her attention the most was the bandage going over his chest, across and over the reactor. The titanium socket had to be replaced seeing it was damaged by the shield as well, they had even gone so far as to replace the reactor again though it was more likely because of the conditions he had been injured in more than anything else

 

Antonia waited as patiently as she could for Tony to be moved up into a room, until then she alternated between sitting, standing, and looking at the medications they had in his IV. There was a high spectrum antibiotic, a pain killer, a mild sedative, and a saline drip. The antibiotic and pain medication was a no brainer as to why he had it, the saline was for fluid, though she was questioning the sedative. She was halfway through getting into the computer that was located near his bed when one of the nurses came to ask her about visitors.   
  
"Ms. Stark, there is a man...a Mr. Rogers what would like to come back and see Mr. Stark."   
  
"No visitors." She commented as she looked at the nurse, she was different than the one who had called her back to sit with Tony. "I don't want any visitors to see him at this time, you know...for privacy reasons." She offered the woman a smile before she walked away. No questions asked about what she was doing at the computer station.    
However she did not get a chance to look at his records. Moment's later they moved Tony up to a single bed room.

 

The nurses obeyed Antonia's wishes and posted a no visitors sign on the walls around the door, though no one really knew they were there. and No one was going to get passed her, not as she sat in the visitors chair just inside the door anyway.    
  
Though the nurses on this floor did warn her about hacking into their system for patient records and did thinly veil the threat of having her arrested if she did it again.It was a break in patient confidentiality even though she was his next of kin and since she didn't ask for the file or any medical information and since Tony did not disclose the fact it was alright to share it with her, it was breaking the law.  Though it wasn't like Antonia particularly cared about being arrested, at least she wouldn't have if Tony had been alright.

 

Its almost three hours after Tony is moved upstairs and Antonia is waiting for the doctor when she notices someone outside the door to the hospital room. It’s Rogers. She isn’t sure whether she wants to laugh, or scream, or bang her head against the wall, or perhaps she could bang his in the wall to get him to get the hint she doesn’t want him there. But before she has the chance, the doctor arrives. It’s not the same one who they’ve dealt with before and from the look and air about him she’s going to have a difficult time getting answers. Probably because he feels like he knows it all. Probably because they nurses told him she tried to hack the computer. She offers the man a smile and she stands and shakes his hand as he asks for her name.    
  
She watches as the man, , Doctor Savoy, looks over Tony, and then she begins to ask questions. The answers are simple and not what Antonia is looking for so she asks for a better explanation, which is something the Doctor doesn’t seem to be pleased about and he proceeds to give her the textbook answers. Antonia plays along of course, she knows when people are being jerks because they feel like their time is being wasted.  Antonia offers Doctor Savoy the same smile as he leaves. “Your effort to deter me from asking questions was admirable. But you should know that I have a PHD in medical Science as well as a license to practice. So I suggest just sticking to treating him or I just may do that myself too.”

 

Antonia feels somewhat victorious at the shade of red the man turns before he walks out of the room and she manages to keep it together until he disappears around the corner to his next patient. Despite being a jerk, Savoy was honest. 

 

_ “If it had taken any longer to get the reactor into his chest and getting him back for medical care. He wouldn’t be here Ms. Stark. The reactor is what keeps his heart going, Without it, it may continue to beat, but it would most likely just stop, No heartbeat, no blood pumping, no oxygen to vital organs. You see where I am going, I hope.” He made a slashing motion across his neck for good measure.  _

 

She can feel tears begin to prick and burn in her eyes as the realization of how close he came to dying hits her. It’s something she realizes, she can’t handle, she can’t handle the thought of Tony dying, she can’t handle the thought of burying him in the crypt with their parents, and she certainly can’t handle the thought of being alone, especially since Tony has been there all of her life. 

 

There is anger and sadness bubbling up in her chest when she notices movement towards the door and she turns her head to see him pacing just outside the door. Fucking Rogers. The reason Tony is there in the first place, the reason she’s going through this emotional roller coaster when there is already enough on her plate as it is. 

 

Antonia doesn’t remember moving, she certainly doesn’t remember charging through the door, but she does remember grabbing Rogers by the front of his hoodie and slamming him against the wall across from Tony’s room. Steve’s face is blurry from the tears in her eyes that have begun to spill over. 

 

“I hope you’re happy” She hisses as Steve grabs her wrists, though that doesn’t stop her from pulling him from the wall and slamming him back into the surface. “I hope you are so fucking happy with yourself.  _ Captain _ ” 

 

Steve doesn’t remember seeing Antonia this angry before. He’s seen her annoyed, irritated , agitated even, but never angry. There hate written on her face and in her eyes as she spits out his title almost in his face. Honestly, Steve knows he deserves this, but he would rather not do it in public, where people can see. But Antonia doesn’t seem to care. 

 

“You’re supposed to be some great hero, the leader to the damn Avengers and this is what you do?” Steve pulls at her hands, but they just grip the fabric of his hoodie tighter. “You get into a fight with someone who was your friend, your teammate, your brother in arms and you smash that pretty little shield into his chest. Into the one thing you know that used to keep his heart going.

 

There is a crowd forming now to watch and more people are coming as her voice rises. 

 

“Tonia” Steve says and in an instant he regrets it as a hand comes in contact with his face. The sound of her hand hitting his face echos in the hallway. 

 

“Don’t you ever call me that,” Antonia sneers. “The only person that gets to call me that is Tony and you nearly killed him.” She brings her hand up again but it never makes contact with his face, not as Security comes and grabs her by the waist and pulls her away from Steve. With all the hatred and anger in her face he expected her to continue to fight, but the moment they pulled her away from him, her body just sagged. She doesn’t argue when they say they are going to escort her out of the building.Though Steve knows she will be back by morning, She’ll spend the night paying whatever fees and fines she has to and they will let her back in. He is tempted to tell them to press charges, but in the end he doesn’t. However, he does wait until the crowd has cleared and Antonia is in the elevator on her way down to the ground floor to walk towards Tony’s room. He almost steps over the threshold…

 

“Mr. Stark is to receive no visitors!” A nurse says from behind him. “That includes you. No matter how long you stand outside this door, you're not going in.”

 

By morning Antonia is back in Tony’s room. She was honestly only there because she spent most of the night on the phone talking to the higher ups of the hospital. Apologizing for her behavior, agreeing to pay for the damage she had apparently done to the wall when she slammed Steve against it. Though she was certain she had only won them over when she agreed to have some of her newly designed and released medical equipment donated to the hospital. Which was fine really, as long as she got to see Tony she didn’t care if she had to sign over half the Avengers at this point. Was it selfish of her? Probably but she was always selfish when it came to Tony.    
  
The nurses had been unhappy to see her but they told her that Steve had tried to enter the room after she left. She asked for some security from Stark Industries outside the door. But she knew that it wasn’t the end of Rogers. He couldn’t take a hint, he couldn’t even take a direct order to leave in the first place.    
  
Unfortunately, her outburst brought attention to the fact Tony was in the hospital and she had to explain to Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy. This was causing a bigger mess, all of this was such a big fucking mess and it was only going to get worse as long as Steve didn’t get the hint to go the fuck away.    
  
It seemed that thinking of Steve made him appear, because it was just a few moments afterwards did one of the security guards  radioed up telling her he was coming.    
  
“He’s trying my patience more than you ever did.”She said aloud to Tony as he slept.

 

From his chart she knew they had begun to ween him off the sedative and the notes said he should be waking up sometime that afternoon and honestly the last thing she wanted was for Tony to see Steve.    
  
Antonia sighed as she pushed herself from the chair and stood outside the door. She waited until she saw Steve come around the corner from the elevator dressed in the same gimmick as before.    
  
“I want you to leave.”    
  
Steve stopped and looked at her, he didn’t look surprised that she was there. Good.   
  
“I want to see Tony.”   
  
“That’s a bit too bad isn’t? I you are the one that put him here and you tried to go in after they hauled me out of here. You aren’t that good at listening aren’t you? Well I mean I guess not since you kept trying to join the damn army.”   
  
“I am going to see him.”   
  
“Yeah, No you’re not.”   
  
“You think your men are going to stop me?”   
  
“No. I know they aren’t. They are to keep other people out actually because the whole damn world knows he’s here since they kicked me out. No. The only person I. Your way is me and honestly if you wanna go for it. Let’s take this outside because I am ready for you.” She told him. His arrogance was astounding and his thinly veiled threats didn’t scare her. The only man who ever scared her was dead and she was going to keep it that way.    
  
Steve was taken aback slightly by her willingness to go against him and he faltered.    
  
“No really, I mean if you really want to do this, let’s   
go. There is plenty of empty space a few   
Miles out of town and I really don’t have a problem punching you in the face. Seriously if you think you can just waltz in here and do whatever your want, you’re mistaken.”   
  
“He’s my friend.”   
  
“Don’t make me laugh Rogers.”   
  
“I’m not leaving.”   
  
“Then I’ll make you”

 

“You think you can?”   
  
“Oh I know I can.” She says, a cold smile spreading across her lips. It’s then Steve spots the phone in her hand as she crosses her arms. He didn’t even see her reach for it, perhaps she’s had it there all this time. “But really who wants that? That sort of headline is bad for public moral and horrible for public relations, not that you and your band of Rogues had any since that...fight in Germany. Not to mention it will draw attention from the governments and we will both be arrested and all that paperwork and then having to deal with Ross. No one wants that really. It’s just easier to pretend I haven’t seen you, that you haven’t been here and keep on lying to Ross.”    
  
Steve’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion.    
  
“How are you going to pretend that I’m not here.”   
  
“With a little help...from them.” Antonia smirked as she pointed towards the figure that just rounded the corner.    
  
“Director Fury.” Steve looked at Fury before looking at Antonia.    
  
“I told him to come and get you.” She shrugged. “I lie about seeing you and exchange they take you and your band of rogue misfits away to somewhere where no one really cares that you didn’t sign the accords, you get to play Avenger and Tony gets to heal without your damn face hover outside the door. Works for me.”

 

Steve looked at Antonia for a moment. Obviously surprised that she would actually pull in Fury.    
  
“Antonia told me what happened Steve and it would just be best if you came with me. It would be good for everyone involved.”   
  
“And if I don’t go?”   
  
“I’ll shove you into my deep freezer for the next seventy years.” Antonia quipped looking annoyed that Steve was still there. “Look I am being kind, I am giving you an out that doesn’t end up in jail like the rest of your Avengers. Fury has things for you to do that already involves ‘saving the world’ without accord oversight or whatever. Just for the love of god get out of my sight.”   
  
“Antonia-“   
  
“No, you don’t get a say in any of these Steve! You nearly killed him. That voids our anything you want to say on this subject.”

 

“Don’t argue with her Rogers.” Fury warned Steve as he saw the man open his mouth. “She has a point. You don’t have a say in who she does or doesnt allow to see him. You don’t have a say in anything that concerns Tony stark at all really.”    
  
Antonia looked smug at what Fury said. If Steve didn’t listen to her, he would Fury at least.    
  
Antonia tried to hide her smile as Fury began to lead Steve off down the hallway.    
  
“I’ll call for that Favor you owe me, Stark.”   
  
“Yeah, of course.” She waved at Fury. The elevator doors weren’t even closed all the way when she could hear Fury begin to Yell.   
  
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING ROGERS?”   
  
She shouldn’t have been so smug.    
  
  
Everything felt like it was on fire. Especially his chest. Then he remembered the fight, the shield in his chest, in the reactor. His eyes flew open and he brought it arms up to defend himself , only to realize he wasn’t in Siberia anymore. No. He looked around and took in the hospital room around him, the dim lights, the dark sky, the monitors, the IV’s and of course Antonia, asleep. Using part of the hospital mattress as a pillow.    
  
He had no idea how he had gotten there, unless...Steve took him there. Which was unlikely. No it was more possible that Friday alerted Antonia after the Helmet had been damaged.    
  
He reached out slightly and laid a hand on His sister’s despite the pain.

 

Waking up next to Tony’s hospital bed with a sore back reminds Antonia too much of the years just after their parents died, especially after he started drinking more and veered off the road and crashed his car while drunk driving. But at least back then when she sat up and stretches her back didn’t feel like it was in a vice.   
  
It doesn’t even register that Tony is awake and looking at her until the soft “Tonia” meets her ears and her head snapped towards him. His face is still very much bruised and cut up but the marks are healing, though she doesn’t focus on that, instead she focuses on the tight lines on his face, the pain and sadness written in his eyes.    
  
“Tony.” She smiled softly as she moves from her chair to the edge of the bed.    
  
“How did I get here?”   
  
“I brought you back. Friday alerted me on the jet that you might need assistance and I went.”   
  
“You saw, then?” There is an edge to Tony’s voice, a hint that he hopes she didn’t see the shield in his chest.    
  
“I saw the aftermath. I didn’t actually see him strike you.” He nods and brings one of his hands to his chest and presses lightly frowning.    
  
“You’re going to be sore for a while. They had to do surgery after we landed. I was able to replace the reactor in the compound, but the socket had been damaged by the shield as well.”   
  
“How long?”   
  
“It was a six hour procedure. The doctors removed the socket, made sure there was no foreign objects in your chest, replaced the socket, re-replaced the reactor, and cleaned you up a bit.”    
  
He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. There was a thick silence that blanketed the room. Neither of them knew what to say and for a period of time they sat in silence.    
  
“Tonia?”   
  
Antonia turned her head slightly to look at her brother.    
  
“Yes Tony?”   
  
“Why do the people usually care about always hurt me?”

 

“Tony...” Antonia could feel her heart breaking at his question.    
  
“Really Antonia, First it was Howard and how I wasn’t good enough. Then Obie had some terrorists kidnap me to murder me and when that failed he ripped the reactor from my chest and now Steve, Steve was supposed to be a friend someone I could count on and- and look.” He said gesturing to his chest there there tears in his eyes as he looked at her. Tony tried to blink them back, and yet they still fell.    
  
Antonia didn’t think as she moved to wrap her arms around Tony and pull him gently to her chest. There was a low sob that escaped his lips as he buried his face into the crook of her neck and soon the collar of her shirt grew damp with his tears. His arms came around and his fingers dig into the back of her shirt, grabbing fistfuls of fabric

 

They stay like that until the shoulder of Antonia’s shirt is soaked with tears and Tony’s chest aches for a different reason. He allows Antonia to ease him back against the mattress but he doesn’t let go of her, not right away, only after she settles down next to him does he release the side of her shirt and he leans against her side instead.    
  
“Maybe you should take over being the superhero.” Tony mumbles against her shoulder. “Anyone that keeps saving Iron Man deserves to be one.”

 

“Superheroes need to be saved once in awhile too.” Antonia said as she leaned her head against his. “Even the invincible iron man.”    
  
Tony made a sound in his throat as if he had disagreed with her.    
  
“You can disagree with me all you want, but you know I’ll win this argument.”   
  
“You can win if I don’t argue.”

 

"Oh so you do have an argument for this then? Fo why Superheros don't need saving?"

 

"Yeah. of course. I have an argument for almost everything," Tony stated in a mater of fact way. This sort of behavior, the erratic conversations, the changing topics, perhaps looked...off to anyone looking in. But for someone who knew Tony, who grew up with him, she knew that this was one of the many coping mechanisms he had. Tony either used humor or he kept himself busy. In this case it was easier to keep himself busy in an 'argument'    
  
"Well I do know that, I mean I've seen you in meetings and I mean you definately had an argument for everything Ross suggested. But this is different."   
  
"Hardly."   
  
"Superhero's are just normal people that have extraordinary abilities. They are for the most part - obviously Rogers and Thor don't fit into this category- they are human,"   
  
"Well when you put it that way, I am not a superhero anyway." He argued. "I have no extraordinary abilities other than being charming and good looking."   
  
"That is bullshit and you know it. You are a goddamn genius. that is a super power in itself. You created your first reactor in a fucking cave with a box of scraps, I couldn't even get anything remotely close to that in my office with modern equipment and Stane's people couldn't even fucking do it in the onsite lab."   
  
"You're biased."   
  
"You're being self deprecating."

 

"Is that what this is called? i thought I was just being me."   
  
It took so much effort for her not to roll her eyes and sigh.    
  
"Look, if things were reversed-- No Don't interrupt me, hear me out. If Things were reversed and I was the full time superhero and you were the assistant/consultant/ whatever the hell I am, and You saved me after being hurt and I said the same things to you that you just said to me, would that be different?"   
  
"Well of course it would be, because none of that is true."   
  
"So if it wouldn't be true coming from me, then why is it true coming from you?"

 

Tony opens his mouth to argue, but he knows he really can’t. It wouldn’t make sense instead he silently takes his defeat and shifts until he’s slightly more comfortable.    
  
“Just because you won this argument doesn’t mean you’ll win them all.”   
  
“Well I wouldn’t think so. But I shall take this victory and be content.    
  
  
It seemed as if the Avengers compound became a rehabilitation facility, at for now. The hospital had released Tony into Antonia’s care as long as he followed the discharge plan they had come up with. It was one more thing she had to do really and he felt guilty. She was already looking after Rhodey, helping him get around and with the physical therapy of his own as he got used to the leg braces that where supposed to help him walk again. It seemed like too much for her to handle on top of her Stark Industries responsibilities.   
  


But she made it work until Tony was Strong enough to handle things around the compound himself

  
  


“Don’t be so hard on yourself Tones.” Rhodey told him one afternoon as they sat together in the common. Tony had told him how guilty he felt about having Antonia looking over him, how it always seemed to end up that way. “The two of you look after each other equally, it just seems to be such a burden when you think about it because you think you have to do everything for yourself. Antonia on the other hand accepts help and she doesn’t always argue with you over it.”   
  
Tony threw him a look that he ignored.    
  
“You looked after her after your parents died, maybe it seems to be a big deal to you because you’re usually physically hurt and require care, which she is more than capable of handling. She’s a damn doctor Tony.”   
  
“That’s not the point, Honey Bear.”   
  
“No that is the point. I don’t think you really know how much this doesn’t bother her and how much she actually cares. She nearly put Steve Rogers through a damn wall for doing that.” He pointed at Tony’s chest.

 

Tony blinked “she almost put Steve Rogers through a wall....”   
  
“Yep. Antonia just full on slammed him into it so hard it damaged the drywall. So we   
Know she had to be pretty pissed off if she did that without her armor.”   
  
“I-why?”   
  
“Because he wanted to see you and she didn’t want him anywhere near you and he didn’t pay any attention to what she told him. She loves you Tony, I don’t know anyone else she would do that for other than you.”

Tony shook his head slightly.   
  
“What?”   
  
“I don’t think she actually likes me that much.”    
  
Rhodey stared at him for a long minute. “You really are pretty stupid for a genius. Out of all the people you think hate you, you think Antonia does?”   
  
“You’ve seen the shit I’ve gone, that I’ve gotten into.”   
  
“I can’t believe what I am hearing. You really think that Antonia Margaret Stark, your sister, business partner, and co-owner of Stark Industries, the girl who's gone out of her way to make the idea of Stark Medical a success because you said she could, hates you? I think you need to have your head examined because they must have hit you pretty hard.”   
  
Tony gave him a scornful look at him and it was Rhodey’s turn to shake his head.    
  
“Come on, I have something I want to show you then.” Rhodey tells Tony as he begins wheel his way out of the common area.   
  
“Where are you going?”   
  
“Come and find out!”    
  
Tony huffs in fake annoyance as he pushes himself from the sofa and follows Rhodey.   
  
He knows the part of the compound rather well. It’s the small section Antonia has to herself, including her Lab/workshop, her office, and her living quarters away from the rest of them.   
  
Rhodey comes to a stop in front of Antonia’s office before pushing the door open.   
  
“What are you going to do? Raid her side table for whatever good we can find.”   
  
“Just get in.”   
  
“What are we in here for?” Tony questions as Rhodey turns on the lights. Tony hasn’t stepped foot in this space since they moved in. He had to admit the office was a nice set up really. The desk positioned near the center, stacked with papers, off to the right was several bookshelves filled with engineering, medical, and leisure books. Off to the left was a side table that held a very full decanter of something he assumed was full of some type of Alcohol.   
  


There where a few plants that she had set up on some tables here and there but he assumes that wasn’t what Rhodey was asking about. He turned to ask what they were doing there when he stopped and saw the wall across from her desk. While the rest of the walls were an off white this one was a deep red. He took a step closer as he saw the framed magazine covers, the ones of when he first took over the company, the ones after he became Iron man, and just the occasion cover some Magazine did when they did a story or interview. There was one of those Iron man prints like he hung up in his workshop in Malibu, as well as several photos of the two of them from the few vacations they’ve taken together.   
  
“I really doubt she’d do this if she hated you”

 


End file.
